Lithium Battery For Kayak ???

[JohnMckroidJr]

About half the kayak anglers that I know in Florida have switched over to lithium.

Some guys are even using the cheap blue bricks that are sold on eBay, putting them in a water-tight container from Walmart, and using them on their FF and live wells.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-DC-Rech...QAAOSw1O9gUHYC

The blue bricks are inconsistent in power and a margin of risk that is beyond my comfort zone. I don't trust that the cheap Battery Management System(BMS) boards that control these batteries will keep them from exploding. The better quality more expensive brands are watertight sealed and have quality short circuit protection.

In SE Florida, most people are fishing with live goggleeyes which can take the 12v water flow on the live well. Some guys are using voltgage reducers to bring the voltage down to 6v on their Live wells.

The Miady LifePO 16ah 12v was for $54.99 on Amazon, and at 4lbs was probably the best deal. A few yakers are using it, but I see it is sold out on Amazon.

I have a friend who is using two 10ah Nocquas to power a 7" Raymarine Element, and the combined 20ah is not enough if he uses the advanced features over the course of a day, but sufficient if he uses only traditional and map.

It is important to note that most lithiums can be discharged up to 90%, while a lead-acid might discharge to 70%, thus one may not need as many Ah when switching to a Lithium.

Some Lithiums have a limited range of 12V output, and actually, drain down to as low as 7.5v when down to 10% of capacity. It is important to check the operating voltages of your Fishfinder to see which batteries are suitable.

I own a FPV Power 17.5ah battery, which works great for my dragonfly7, but insufficient juice for the Element 7" as its voltage drops too low. This battery is falsely noted as weighing 1lb. It is 2lbs, which is still ridiculously light.

Amped Outdoors offers a good variety of Lithiums and has a chart to note the expected life of various batteries. It's worth taking a look at to note the expected capacities and weights of different technologies.

https://ampedoutdoors.com/

As the technology continues to develop, the prices continue to come down, the longer one holds off on switching, the better the deal one will get -- how sweet it is to have more power at half the weight!

[iethinker]

Originally Posted by JohnMckroidJr

About half the kayak anglers that I know in Florida have switched over to lithium.

Some guys are even using the cheap blue bricks that are sold on eBay, putting them in a water-tight container from Walmart, and using them on their FF and live wells.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-DC-Rech...QAAOSw1O9gUHYC

The blue bricks are inconsistent in power and a margin of risk that is beyond my comfort zone. I don't trust that the cheap Battery Management System(BMS) boards that control these batteries will keep them from exploding. The better quality more expensive brands are watertight sealed and have quality short circuit protection.

In SE Florida, most people are fishing with live goggleeyes which can take the 12v water flow on the live well. Some guys are using voltgage reducers to bring the voltage down to 6v on their Live wells.

The Miady LifePO 16ah 12v was for $54.99 on Amazon, and at 4lbs was probably the best deal. A few yakers are using it, but I see it is sold out on Amazon.

I have a friend who is using two 10ah Nocquas to power a 7" Raymarine Element, and the combined 20ah is not enough if he uses the advanced features over the course of a day, but sufficient if he uses only traditional and map.

It is important to note that most lithiums can be discharged up to 90%, while a lead-acid might discharge to 70%, thus one may not need as many Ah when switching to a Lithium.

Some Lithiums have a limited range of 12V output, and actually, drain down to as low as 7.5v when down to 10% of capacity. It is important to check the operating voltages of your Fishfinder to see which batteries are suitable.

I own a FPV Power 17.5ah battery, which works great for my dragonfly7, but insufficient juice for the Element 7" as its voltage drops too low. This battery is falsely noted as weighing 1lb. It is 2lbs, which is still ridiculously light.

Amped Outdoors offers a good variety of Lithiums and has a chart to note the expected life of various batteries. It's worth taking a look at to note the expected capacities and weights of different technologies.

https://ampedoutdoors.com/

As the technology continues to develop, the prices continue to come down, the longer one holds off on switching, the better the deal one will get -- how sweet it is to have more power at half the weight!

Thanks for the details. Do you know if all lithiums have a circuit board in them?

[JohnMckroidJr]

Originally Posted by iethinker

Thanks for the details. Do you know if all lithiums have a circuit board in them?

No, it depends on the type of lithium batteries and if they are in serial or parallel. Most of the lithium batteries that a kayaker would consider using comprise multiple smaller cells lined up in groups of serial and parallel combinations to reach the desired voltage and amp-hour capacity. They need to have the BMS for safety and to balance the charge. There are DIU books on Amazon if one wanted to make their own Lithiums.

[FISH11]

I recently switched to Lithium because my Lowrance Elite 7TI just would use up the power on the 12v 12ah flooded battery I have. The larger 12ah battery was already larger and heavier than my 10ah one I used for years with a smaller screen size FF. With not providing enough usage time I upped for a 20ah Lithium battery that also came with it's own charger. The price has gone up about $7 from when I bought mine but it's still a bargain at the capacity and price including the lithium charger. I put it inside a waterproof Pelican case that I've used for years with a 12v 10ah battery. The Lithium battery even though it's 20ah is slightly smaller the the 10ah and it weight so little that when I pick up that case I can tell them apart because the Lithium Pelican case feels like it must be empty. If not submerged I think they could be used without a waterproof case.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12v-Battery...r/143931540152

[GregAndrew]

I have been using Bioenno LiFePo4 batteries for years and would never go back. Their circuit boards protect from everything you are going to throw at them. No charging memory and a lifetime of recharges for most people are more than worth the price. I just upgraded one to the 12v 15ah model since it was in the same size housing as their 12ah model. The 12ah models easily run my HDS7 Live Touch for 2 outings for me.

[roby]

Originally Posted by GregAndrew

I have been using Bioenno LiFePo4 batteries for years and would never go back. Their circuit boards protect from everything you are going to throw at them. No charging memory and a lifetime of recharges for most people are more than worth the price. I just upgraded one to the 12v 15ah model since it was in the same size housing as their 12ah model. The 12ah models easily run my HDS7 Live Touch for 2 outings for me.

Bioenno's customer service is great too. I dropped a battery one time and they replaced it for me without much fuss. I own three of their batteries and I haven't had any issues with them.

[katchfish]

One more for Bioenno!

Excellent customer service����

-light weight
-local
-earth friendly
-duty cycles

My 6 volt bait tank unit in a Pelican case actually floats, a big plus+

[JohnMckroidJr]

Originally Posted by FISH11

I recently switched to Lithium because my Lowrance Elite 7TI just would use up the power on the 12v 12ah flooded battery I have. The larger 12ah battery was already larger and heavier than my 10ah one I used for years with a smaller screen size FF. With not providing enough usage time I upped for a 20ah Lithium battery that also came with it's own charger. The price has gone up about $7 from when I bought mine but it's still a bargain at the capacity and price including the lithium charger. I put it inside a waterproof Pelican case that I've used for years with a 12v 10ah battery. The Lithium battery even though it's 20ah is slightly smaller the the 10ah and it weight so little that when I pick up that case I can tell them apart because the Lithium Pelican case feels like it must be empty. If not submerged I think they could be used without a waterproof case.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12v-Battery...r/143931540152

That's a nice light battery at a good price, but it may not perform too well with your Lowrance Elite 7Ti which is for 10.8-17V while the battery has a range of 8.5-12.6V. As the Battery discharges, when it falls below 10.8V, the Lowrance might not operate too well. I had the same problem with the FPV Power 17.6ah lithium.

[FISH11]

Originally Posted by JohnMckroidJr

That's a nice light battery at a good price, but it may not perform too well with your Lowrance Elite 7Ti which is for 10.8-17V while the battery has a range of 8.5-12.6V. As the Battery discharges, when it falls below 10.8V, the Lowrance might not operate too well. I had the same problem with the FPV Power 17.6ah lithium.

I've used the 7TI for up to 9.5 hrs and the voltage was still good and the old 12v 12ah flooded battery would have cut out already due to voltage drop. So after 6 weeks of use I'm very happy with it.